'State of the Fish' meeting slated for mon.

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Because fishery management in local waters is an issue near and dear to many Coloradans' hearts, particularly those in headwaters counties, Colorado Parks and Wildlife is seeking input and comments on the current and proposed tactics in nearby fisheries.

The first meeting is slated for 6:30 p.m. today in Granby at the Granby library. A Silverthorne meeting is slated for 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Silverthorne library.

"In addition to science and biology, we rely on the public's input for our wildlife management decisions and strategies," said Jon Ewert, Colorado Parks and Wildlife aquatic biologist out of Hot Sulphur Springs. "We want to make decisions the public will support, so we encourage everyone to come out and tell us what they think."

A meeting of this kind hasn't happened for several years, Ewert said. With new data and other information in hand, he's taking the opportunity to let interested parties - namely anglers - get an update from the source about their favorite water bodies.

"I just wanted to update folks on any water body that they're interested in," Ewert said, using the example of the Blue River tailwaters. He has new information that wasn't available a few years ago that he will be prepared to share if attendees are interested.

The meeting will function as a "data workshop," Ewert said, which he described as a way to facilitate discussion and interaction between the agency and sportsmen.

"Anglers will have the opportunity to call out a body of water, and then I will provide data, stocking records and future plans about that fishery, followed by an open discussion," Ewert said. "There are no major changes a foot, just a lot of new stuff going on that's come about since the last meeting."